Everence Capital Management Inc. Sells 4,440 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 30.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,440 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $647,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SYF. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 1,575 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 487,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,327,000 after acquiring an additional 10,294 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 14,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 23.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,078,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,910,000 after acquiring an additional 203,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 18.6% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 9,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SYF. Morgan Stanley upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $72.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at $5,498,831.59. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 2.3 %

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $66.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $64.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $35.29 and a 52-week high of $69.39. The firm has a market cap of $26.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.64.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Synchrony Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 13.05%.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

Synchrony Financial, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer financial services company in the United States. It provides credit products, such as credit cards, commercial credit products, and consumer installment loans. The company also offers private label credit cards, dual co-brand and general purpose credit cards, short- and long-term installment loans, and consumer banking products; and deposit products, including certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, money market accounts, and savings accounts, and sweep and affinity deposits, as well as accepts deposits through third-party securities brokerage firms.